Fuelling your riding optimally is an importan part of cycling. But there is so much information
coming from every corner of the cycling industry that most of us — bar fully qualified sports nutritionists — are left scratching our heads. Here, we cut through the marketing jargon and talk to some of the top professionals in cycling to see how what we eat can help make us faster. You are what you eat, as the saying has it.
When you become a cyclist, it’s a lesson learned the hard way: that first painful experience of cycling on empty, due to inadequate fuelling, focuses the mind on this vital issue of preparation. But there is so much diet information bombarding us all the time, in magazines, on the internet, in books, cycle shops, etc, that it’s hard to know what to heed.
One of the loudest voices when it comes to food and fuelling for cycling performance is the sports nutrition industry. It’s no surprise that
its recommendations involve heavy use of its products. Representing
major brands and big businesses, it makes money by supplying your demand for energy products. It spends millions to sell you pre-ride drinks, post-ride drinks, recovery
bars, energy bars, energy gels, boosters and shots, everything that you could ever dream of to help you ride faster. But is this high-sugar, highly processed diet really the best
one to follow? We spoke to Nigel Mitchell, head of nutrition at Team Sky to find out what he advises his world-class riders to eat. “The first thing that we do with all our riders is make sure their diet and nutrition are tailored to their individual body and needs. Humans are not all the same; two riders will not have same needs after an identical ride — they will burn different amounts of calories depending on many factors. So we
Prepackaged sports nutrition or natural food as nature intended? What do the pros eat, and
what are the key diet tips for you as a performance-orientated cyclist? Phil Gale gets picky about grub
One of the loudest voices when it comes to food and fuelling for cycling performance is the sports nutrition industry. It’s no surprise that
its recommendations involve heavy use of its products. Representing
major brands and big businesses, it makes money by supplying your demand for energy products. It spends millions to sell you pre-ride drinks, post-ride drinks, recovery
bars, energy bars, energy gels, boosters and shots, everything that you could ever dream of to help you ride faster. But is this high-sugar, highly processed diet really the best
one to follow? We spoke to Nigel Mitchell, head of nutrition at Team Sky to find out what he advises his world-class riders to eat. “The first thing that we do with all our riders is make sure their diet and nutrition are tailored to their individual body and needs. Humans are not all the same; two riders will not have same needs after an identical ride — they will burn different amounts of calories depending on many factors. So we
Prepackaged sports nutrition or natural food as nature intended? What do the pros eat, and
what are the key diet tips for you as a performance-orientated cyclist? Phil Gale gets picky about grub
THE REAL FOOD RULES LEARN FROM THE PROS
make sure that we know each of our riders, how their bodies work, and then develop a plan to give them the best fuel for their riding. “Rather than looking at what we can add to the rider’s diet in terms of nutrition products, we take things back to basics and look at what their core diet is like. The best starting place to improve any rider’s performance is to make sure that they are eating the best real food on a day-to-day basis — unprocessed, natural and nutrient-dense.” Team Sky neo-pro Ian Boswell explains: “It is quite funny because, growing up in the Pacific North West of America, where there is a culture for good eating habits, I have changed my day-to-day eating very little since moving to Team Sky. My parents have always promoted a natural diet to me. It has always been normal for me to cook my meals from scratch, using ingredients that are as fresh, organic, natural, in-season, and unprocessed as possible all the time. “The only food that I ever get out of a box is occasionally cereal, when I do not make my own, and grains. In general, I eat more for wider health and nutrition rather than calories. I focus on making sure that all the food I eat is nutritionally dense and the best quality, steering away from food that is calorie-laden but nutritionally empty. For example, wholemeal grains over processed ones, fresh and seasonal fruit and vegetables over processed or imported ones. These are small yet simple changes that I think have a huge impact on not only a rider’s performance, but also
on their everyday health. This has always been central to my diet and is central to what we are advised to do at Team Sky.” Once we know what to eat, the next question is, how much? It would be simple to presume that, because riding burns a lot of calories, making you feel very hungry, you can get away with eating anything and everything. Unfortunately, this is not the case. One thing that we all know about cycling is that weight matters. In the bike-plus-rider sum, the rider makes up the majority of the weight, and it is therefore easier to reduce your weight rather than your bike’s
on their everyday health. This has always been central to my diet and is central to what we are advised to do at Team Sky.” Once we know what to eat, the next question is, how much? It would be simple to presume that, because riding burns a lot of calories, making you feel very hungry, you can get away with eating anything and everything. Unfortunately, this is not the case. One thing that we all know about cycling is that weight matters. In the bike-plus-rider sum, the rider makes up the majority of the weight, and it is therefore easier to reduce your weight rather than your bike’s
SHAKES OUT
There is no such thing as the average rider, so standardised diet advice is practically useless. Many sports nutrition companies recommend pre-loading with carbs, more carbs on the bike, and carbs and protein for recovery. If you followed this advice to the letter on every ride, you’d pile on weight through consuming too many calories. Pros eat what they
need, not constantly! Knowing that we need to make sure our diets are specific to our
needs, Mitchell continues: “One of the trends with amateur cyclists that I see more of, and is a concern to me, is doubling-up. Doubling-up is when a rider has a recovery drink, laden
with gut-busting protein straight after their ride, and then has proteinrich dinner soon afterwards. This is not necessary and over time will promote weight gain. “For our riders, we choose one or the other. For example, if they are at a race or training camp and will not get a good meal — with lowfat protein, such as chicken — for many hours, we give them a protein recovery drink, and a lighter dinner later. If we know they will be able to eat a meal soon after their ride, we give them a lighter post-ride snack and wait for a larger dinner.
“Cycling is a sport where powerto- weight ratio is key, so we make sure that the riders have enough fuel to train but not so much that they put on weight. This is an area of our support that we continually look at and something that all our riders are aware of. It is part of their job.”Self-control and thinking about the demands we have made of our bodies during activity is key to finding the correct balance between calories consumed and calories burnt
— eating according to need. “One thing that I see a lot of novice riders do is the pre-event overeat,” Boswell adds. “They think that because they are doing a long and tough ride the following day that they should eat as much as possible the night before, scoffing as many plates of pasta as possible. In reality, you do not need that much. “Before a big event, we tend to eat a dinner higher in carbohydrates, but don’t eat plate after plate of it. There is only a certain amount that your body can store. Eat just a normal-sized meal and maintain energy levels during the event by eating on the bike, rather than relying on your body’s stores.” With eating on the bike being key to maintaining energy levels while riding, Mitchell explains another Team Sky theory: “Another common mistake that I see from amateur riders is eating on the bike because they are told to by the sports
There is no such thing as the average rider, so standardised diet advice is practically useless. Many sports nutrition companies recommend pre-loading with carbs, more carbs on the bike, and carbs and protein for recovery. If you followed this advice to the letter on every ride, you’d pile on weight through consuming too many calories. Pros eat what they
need, not constantly! Knowing that we need to make sure our diets are specific to our
needs, Mitchell continues: “One of the trends with amateur cyclists that I see more of, and is a concern to me, is doubling-up. Doubling-up is when a rider has a recovery drink, laden
with gut-busting protein straight after their ride, and then has proteinrich dinner soon afterwards. This is not necessary and over time will promote weight gain. “For our riders, we choose one or the other. For example, if they are at a race or training camp and will not get a good meal — with lowfat protein, such as chicken — for many hours, we give them a protein recovery drink, and a lighter dinner later. If we know they will be able to eat a meal soon after their ride, we give them a lighter post-ride snack and wait for a larger dinner.
“Cycling is a sport where powerto- weight ratio is key, so we make sure that the riders have enough fuel to train but not so much that they put on weight. This is an area of our support that we continually look at and something that all our riders are aware of. It is part of their job.”Self-control and thinking about the demands we have made of our bodies during activity is key to finding the correct balance between calories consumed and calories burnt
— eating according to need. “One thing that I see a lot of novice riders do is the pre-event overeat,” Boswell adds. “They think that because they are doing a long and tough ride the following day that they should eat as much as possible the night before, scoffing as many plates of pasta as possible. In reality, you do not need that much. “Before a big event, we tend to eat a dinner higher in carbohydrates, but don’t eat plate after plate of it. There is only a certain amount that your body can store. Eat just a normal-sized meal and maintain energy levels during the event by eating on the bike, rather than relying on your body’s stores.” With eating on the bike being key to maintaining energy levels while riding, Mitchell explains another Team Sky theory: “Another common mistake that I see from amateur riders is eating on the bike because they are told to by the sports
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